


Now and Forever

by Sanyue



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Kurofai being dumb and in love, M/M, Mokona saves the day, Syaoran is an adorable nerd, Syaoran ships Kurofai too, sap, the veil is there to cover a plot hole, underdeveloped OCs, wedding fic, world building fail
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-08-17
Packaged: 2019-06-18 16:25:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15489930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanyue/pseuds/Sanyue
Summary: Fai and Kurogane get married. Accidentally.





	1. Chapter 1

Fai landed in the next world knowing he would be separated from his companions.

In the chaos of the previous country, through fire and smoke and a raging battlefield, he’d entered Mokona’s mouth late. Not late enough for a noticeable time delay, probably, but a lifetime of study in transportation magic told him a different location was inevitable. That was fine; he could – would – find the others somehow. It was his first and only thought before he dropped out of the air in a sizzle- _burst_ of magic straight into a pile of…laundry?

Not a pile, Fai amended, sinking further into soft fabric the more he flailed. A veritable mountain of clothing. Expensive ones, too, judging from the abundance of bejewelled hems and gold-trimmed sleeves. And oh -

“How nice!” Fai held up what appeared to be a tunic embroidered with some sort of swirl in glittery blue thread. Through the gauzy fabric, he could make out a high-ceilinged room, tent-like, with similarly blue draperies along the walls. And the tunic…on impulse, he brought it to his chest, aligned it to his shoulders. A perfect fit.

“Who’s there?”

He jerked his head around – _distracted by shiny things, Kurogane was going to scold him for this_ – and stared. His first thought was _Fai?_

Blue eyes met his own, identical in every way. Blond hair – longer than he’d worn it in years – fell in waves down the man’s back. Contrary to the tasteful colours and furnishings around them, he was outfitted in a _something_ Fai had no name for but looked utterly unflattering on him, rumpled in some places as though he’d been halfway putting it on.

His heartbeat steadied. Not Fai. He was sure. This was himself – the himself of this world.

One with terrible, terrible fashion sense, or so it seemed.

Fai smiled. “Hello!”

“You’re…” the other him blinked rapidly. “You’re _me_?”

“I suppose you could say that.” Fai clambered from his seat of honour with some difficulty, shaking a pair of bloomers – bloomers? – off his head. At least the other him wasn’t screaming about shapeshifters or imposters or trying to kill him; a splendid first impression, in his experience. And they could understand each other, which meant Mokona wasn’t far. “I’m the you from another world. You are…” he paused, swallowed. “Yuui?”

Yuui nodded numbly, eyes still suspicious. One of his hands was hidden within the folds of his… _something._ Clothing. Clutching a knife? This didn’t look like one of those worlds with guns.

Fai held his palms up. “I’m sorry for barging into your room like this. It’s your room, right? Brilliant deco, by the way.”

“Oh! Thanks!” Yuui beamed right back. His hand did not appear. “I’m particularly fond of the tasselled drapes myself. Now if you don’t mind, where did you come from?”

“Lord Yuui?” interrupted a disembodied voice.

Fai dove back into the clothing pile, ignoring the echo of _lord_ in his head and the memories it dragged up. Any moment now and he’d be ratted out, get chased by guards, possibly have to threaten the life of the other him to escape…

“Come in,” Yuui said, perfectly nonchalant.

Fai tunnelled a peephole through the fabric. A woman in austere clothing had stepped into the room, a heavy curtain falling back into place behind her. “Have you selected your garments, Lord Yuui?”

“I’m afraid not. Give me a few more minutes, please?”

“If you would just allow the servants to help…”

“Thank you, but I’ll manage.” Fai recognised that smile on Yuui’s face. He’d practiced it himself in the mirror many, many times. It was one he’d had no use for in quite a while now, the one Kurogane hated. With a pang, he wondered where the others had landed, if they were okay, maybe worried about him – last he saw, Kurogane had vanished into Mokona amidst a volley of arrows with Syaoran flipped over one shoulder.

“Please remember you have to present yourself to the elders this evening for final approval before the ceremony.”

“How could I forget?” A laugh. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there.”

The servant bowed and excused herself. Yuui turned his head back to the pile of clothes; he’d never angled the whole of his body away from Fai. “You can come out now.”

Fai poked his head cautiously back out. “Whew, thanks, I thought you’d tell. Are you sure that was wise, though? I might be dangerous.”

“If you wanted to kill me, I think you would have already,” Yuui reasoned. “The others hadn’t hesitated.”

 _Others_? Fai stared. What had he done? “Who’s trying to kill you?"

“You’re really not from around here, are you? There are people – the separatists – who oppose the alliance between our clans. They’ll do anything to stop the marriage.”

The concept of establishing rapport through intermarriage was by no means alien to him, prince of two worlds, but something wasn’t – Fai’s mouth fell open. “Marriage?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Yours?”

“Indeed.”

“To whom?”

Yuui smiled, and this time it was wry. “I don’t know.”

* * *

 

Fai had known there were worlds in which he had no twin. And worlds in which his twin had no him. Syaoran’s face would twist in guilt every time they landed in those worlds, matching the squeeze in Fai’s heart, and Fai was always quick to take their minds off the whole turning-back-time-unlucky-twins thing. For all their misery in Valeria, the notion that either of them could have been born a single child was still inconceivable. Sometimes he thought if he had the choice, he still wouldn’t want to never have known Fai – precious, selfless Fai.

The whirlwind of emotions upon learning that a him of another world did not have a sibling never faded. But here, for the first time, it was shouldered into the backseat by a more shocking development.

“I’m getting married,” Fai said dumbly.

“Technically, I am.” the corner of Yuui’s lips quirked. He’d taken the dimension-hopping-other-worlds-exist story quite well, for someone in a world seemingly unfamiliar with magic. Then again, this was him. Kurogane always professed he was kind of crazy.

They were also lounging in Yuui’s bedchamber like long lost best friends, and Fai was quickly discovering what an engaging conversationalist he was. “Married. How can you not know who this…this lord of the other clan is?”

“It’s tradition, for marriages between two people of royal bloodlines, anyway." The twist in Yuui's face told Fai exactly what he thought about tradition. "It’s considered auspicious if the couple don’t know each other at all until the ceremony, even though that’s an ideal and rarely happens because, you know, there are interactions between clans. Usually they settle for not seeing each other throughout wedding preparations."

"But not for yours?"

"Not for mine. My engagement was something the elders decided on long before I was born, so it was possible to prevent me from learning about my fiancé since day one.”

“So this is like… _super_ auspicious.”

“Absolutely. I did manage to garner some details about my fiancé from snatches of gossip, of course. But no one has to know that.”

“But what’s the point? Of not knowing? Isn’t it better to know who you’ll be working with for like the rest of your life?”

“The spirit of it is to put your clan before yourself and accept your spouse, whoever it may be.”

“That’s…kind of awful.” Fai frowned.

“It is,” Yuui agreed. He thumbed the fabric of the hideous _something_ he was clad in. “But it’s for the good of the clan, and I’m sure he’s going through the same thing too. I thought of rebelling a little, wearing this ridiculous getup to the ceremony. But I’m sure the elders wouldn’t allow it.”

Fai grinned despite himself. “And here I was wondering what went so wrong that any version of myself would be caught dead in _that.”_

“Glad to assuage your concerns. Now enough about me. Will you be looking for your companions?”

“I’d like to. It might be difficult, though, especially if people will think I’m you…oh, I could put up an illusion!”

“With magic.”

“Mm-hmm.”

Yuui’s eyes glowed with curiosity. “I’d like to see that.”

Never one to overlook the opportunity to impress, even if the other party was himself, Fai flowed off his stool with a flourish he’d picked up from a circus carnival. “Sit straight, now, don’t blink, and prepare to be amazed!”

He called on the familiar energy pulsing through his veins, lifted a finger, and scrawled the first rune into the air.

It exploded.

Knocked off his feet, Fai landed unceremoniously on his butt, spots of light bursting across his vision. A gnawing, splitting pain surged through his head. He groaned.

“Oh, gods, are you okay?” Hands were on him. Yuui. He seemed unharmed – no shit, it was a backlash against the user – and managed to guide Fai back onto the stool.

“My _head.”_

“Uhhh. If it makes you feel better, I can act impressed.”

“Screw you.” Fai scowled. “There’s magic in this world, and it doesn’t mingle well with my own.”

Yuui looked sceptical. “I’ve never heard of magic except in children’s folktales, Fai.”

“That can’t be right.” Fai shut his eyes, waited for the throbbing to subside. Then he spread his senses and reached for the magic of this world. It was elusive, like a darting, slippery fish, but he caught hold of it and followed the trail to its ocean. And that was exactly what the magic felt like: a sea on a windless day, so big and yet so silent. “There.”

Fai moved to the window. Yuui’s place was apparently constructed on higher ground – all around and below, tents bloomed like clusters of wildflowers, patterned with blue and white all over. Further away, on the other side of an invisible divide, more tents in black and silver rose against a cloudless sky.

“My fiancé,” Yuui explained, coming up beside him. “We’re on the border between our lands, in temporary encampment erected expressly for the ceremony. It’s sacred ground.”

The sliver of space between the contrasting colours drew Fai’s eye. A stone-ringed fountain bubbled from the ground, shrouded in shifting rainbows conjured by its mist. “And that?”

“We call it the Wellspring of Fortune. But that’s just a saying, like the whole not-meeting-your-future-spouse thing.”

“No,” Fai murmured. “The magic is coming from there. Are you supposed to drink from it?”

“Yes. But people have done so for generations and nothing…extraordinary has happened.”

“Hnnnnh.”

“I think you should sit down for a while.”

So he couldn’t go look for Kurogane and Syaoran and Mokona. Not without enduring a horrible migraine or disguising himself the risky old-fashioned way, and both options sounded unappealing. At least this world seemed more or less peaceful, discounting the assassination attempts of course. Kurogane might even fight those interesting.

 _Kurogane._ Fai bit his lip as he considered Yuui’s mystery fiancé – surely it couldn’t be…? There might not even be a Kurogane in this world, and wasn’t Fai getting ahead of himself here; sure, they had a thing, and Fai was happy and Kurogane was happy despite his bluster and Syaoran was happy and kind of disgusted, but they’ve never mentioned _marriage._ Not out loud. Not counting all the parenting jokes.

God, now wasn’t the time. Now was the time for Yuui’s troubles.

Yuui was trying on another ensemble, having given up on the ugly something. This one was more palatable – better than palatable, if Fai was allowed to toot his own horn – all flowing gauze and winking gems, but Yuui’s expression in the mirror looked…Fai supposed he looked like how Fai used to look, _before._

“About your fiancé…” Fai ventured. “What do you know about him? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Yuui’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I heard…well, I heard he’s kind of stuck up.”

Fai blinked. “Oh.”

“Yeah. A bit of a jerk. Or something.” Yuui’s fingers twisted into his clothes. “Of course, those are just rumours, but they’re not very reassuring ones.”

“I could go check,” Fai said, before he could stop himself.

Yuui gaped at him in a rather un-lordly manner. “What?”

“Check. Like, sneak over and find out who he is. I have some skills. I can be pretty stealthy.”

“That’s…kind of crazy. And kind of crazy for me to be considering it.”

“Well, it’s not like he’ll recognise me, right? He doesn’t know you, either.”

“I suppose not.”

“Then it’s settled!” Fai started rummaging through the pile of clothes for something dark-coloured and unobtrusive. Kurogane would probably snort at him playing ninja. But he had to know. “I’ll leave at night for better cover. Unless you people have some program on or are night owls or something…?”

“Not at all,” Yuui still sounded a little dumbstruck. “Are your spying skills as awe-inspiring as your magic skills?”

And Fai never thought he would be telling himself this, but: “Oh, shut up.”

* * *

 

Fai wished he hadn’t cut the extra fabric off his sleeves. Sure, they fluttered in the slightest breeze and got in the way however he moved, but in retrospect he could use _something_ to wrap himself in against the night chill. It wasn’t nearly as cold as the warmest days in Celes, but Fai couldn’t bring himself to like it anyway. It was, he realised, the first time he’d been alone – however temporarily – in a new world. Barely a day in and here he was missing his companions. Maybe the chill didn’t just come from outside of his skin, after all.

He’d toured the camp once already, keeping well away from the spill of lantern light, one eye peeled for Syaoran and the others. Wherever they were, they had to be indoors with everyone else. Crossing over to the neighbouring camp, the fountain drew him in for an inquisitive look – this close, he could feel its magic prickling at the edge of his senses, a dormant, quiet thing, but no less potent for it. Before he could touch it with a finger, a burst of laughter from some drunk stragglers startled him back into the shadows.

Now Fai crouched in the cover of a tent, close to what had to be the lodgings of the other clan’s elders, if the size and ornamentation of it was any testament. He’d circumvented three watchmen on the way here. Now, how to slip in unnoticed?

He circled the main tent. There was something of a back entrance, but without knowing if it was occupied –

Footsteps crunched on the ground behind him. Fai whipped around. The glow of a lantern was drawing closer, and he scurried further into the embrace of some sort of awning at the side of a tent and its shadow.

A man stepped into view, lamplight sketching his features in stark, angular lines. Fai sucked in a breath.

It was Kurogane.

Not _his_ Kurogane – no, Fai would recognise him anywhere, and a ninja with his brand of training would have sensed Fai from three more tents away besides. This world had a Kurogane.

And he was dressed in the black-and-silver uniform of a simple watchman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn’t expect this fic to have more than one chapter, but it’s totalling to more than 9000 words. Not an incredibly long fic in the grand scheme of things, but still the longest I’ve written and in a scant three days to boot, which is a first. I’m feeling an “achievement unlocked” kind of triumph.
> 
> Anyway, here’s the first part of the Kurofai wedding fic no one asked for but which I hope will brighten your day! Do drop me a comment to tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Kurogane kind of hated this new world.

Which was surprising, because compared to the rampant violence in their previous sojourn, this one was practically bursting with sunshine and rainbows. Two powerful clans coming together in wholesome union, merriment all about and freely flowing booze to celebrate the upcoming nuptials…great, except Kurogane was sorely in need of a drinking partner now more than ever, and _Fai wasn’t her_ e.

“Oi, meatbun. Still don’t sense him?”

“Fai is somewhere!” Mokona asserted for the thousandth time. “Mokona can feel his magic, but it’s faint and Mokona can’t tell where it is. There’s another magic in this world that’s getting in Mokona’s way.”

Kurogane knocked back another mug. Too bland. Fai was strong, he knew, strong in many ways, he could _handle_ himself, but separation just didn’t sit well with him. He wasn’t even allowed to go out and search for the idiot; it had taken a whole troop of guards and every last drop of Syaoran’s diplomatic abilities to sit him back down here to just. Wait. Twiddle his damn thumbs or whatever.

Why the hell did he have to share the face of a lord in this clan?

“Wow, Kurogane’s like, a prince here, aren’t you?” Mokona continued, teasing in place of the mage. “All grown up and getting _married.”_

“The whole thing is stupid,” he growled. “Not knowing who the other person is? What kind of logic is that?”

“It _is_ a fascinating culture, though,” Syaoran chipped in from where he was studying one of the wall tapestries. “They have some ancient traditions pertaining to the wedding ceremony itself – the Unveiling, the First Sip –”

A gust of cold air alerted them to the open tent flap. Silhouetted against the glow of firelight stood a man in a black and silver uniform.

“It’s Kurogane!” Mokona crowed.

“Youou,” the man corrected, as Kurogane sighed and downed another mug. His true name being out in the open now was yet another detail that had been somewhat difficult to swallow – he’d made a pledge to Tomoyo, after all – but it was just Syaoran and Mokona. It was _fine._ And the way the kid had looked when he first heard the name, so distressed at inadvertently prying into Kurogane’s privacy _again_ that his next order of business probably involved wiping his memory…really, it was fine.

“You find anything?” Kurogane asked.

“‘Blond, tall, scrawny, a bit pretty and a lot idiot’, right?” Youou recited. “There’s no one in our clan like that, and my men have no authority to search the other clan.”

Kurogane’s scowl deepened.

“At least we know where Fai is, now!” Mokona said. “Why are you wearing that, anyway, Youou?”

“A necessary precaution, I’m afraid,” said a new voice. A sharp-eyed, black-haired woman stepped through the entrance, dressed in robes that denoted some sort of minister. Kurogane had a vague recollection of seeing her in that Edonis amusement park place. “Threats to my lord’s life have been increasing, lately, and a disguise goes a long way. In fact, that is what I’m here to speak with you about, travellers.”

Kurogane and Youou exchanged suspicious glances. It was kind of refreshing to meet someone with your mindset.

“I assume you have been made aware of the recent spike in insurgence we’ve been facing, from those opposed to the alliance? We suspect the ringleader is working with other hostile clans aiming to prevent the consolidation of power that comes with this joining. You see, with free trade and mutual protection, we would be less vulnerable to enemy invasions.”

“And they don’t want that,” Kurogane said.

“Exactly. From what information we have, we think an assassination attempt during the ceremony tomorrow is very likely – it would throw everyone into chaos, sow unrest in the masses. We’d like to prevent that, but in case a fight does break out…” she took a breath, looked Kurogane in the eye. “It is to our understanding that you are a trained warrior, yes?”

Kurogane nodded. Syaoran’s eyes flicked over, worried.

“And you are…identical in appearance to our lord here, traveller from another world. I know this is a monumental request, unreasonable even, but –”

“No,” both Kuroganes said at once.

“The elders have promised exorbitant rewards –”

“I am not,” Kurogane said slowly, an inexplicable rage building in him, “marrying a stranger.”

“Of course not. We would not dream of forcing that on you. But if it were just a charade, to convince the people…”

Youou spoke. “You want him to be my double and fake-marry whoever the hell it is the elders decided on.”

To her credit, she didn’t waver. “Yes.”

“This is _my_ problem. It’s got nothing to do with him.”

“If only it were just _your_ problem, my lord,” she said severely, lifting her chin. “Anything that happens to you will have consequences on not one, but both clans, and we _cannot_ take that risk. Plus –” her gaze whipped toward Kurogane and Syaoran “– we have listened to these so-called travellers and trusted in their story, even gone out of our way to provide free food and board, which by all rights they should have _worked_ for.”

She got them there. Syaoran fidgeted, no doubt remembering the world with the sushi restaurant where Mokona had whisked them away before paying their (enormous) bill. It was still a scab on his conscience.

“Besides, you are looking for a missing companion, yes?” the minister pressed, clearly sensing an advantage. “He’ll definitely spot you during the ceremony and know where to look for you then.”

Fai. Alone in an unfamiliar world, seeing him get married to a total stranger. Kurogane’s first instinct was _no,_ but Youou on the other hand looked ruminative.

“It…could work,” Youou conceded, through gritted teeth.

Kurogane sort of gaped at him. But somewhere in the back of his mind he kind of understood – this was a lord, with a lord’s responsibilities, struggling with decisions Kurogane himself might have faced if he’d assumed the mantle to Suwa. If this were Suwa…what would he do for Suwa?

But Fai. He was strong, and smart, and would probably figure out it was all a ruse right off the bat, but _Fai_ –

“The ceremony is at sundown, right?” Syaoran said suddenly. “What if...what if tomorrow morning I go look for Fai-san, explain things to him, maybe bring him here. Warn him. Or ask him if – if he’s okay with it.”

Of course he wouldn’t be okay with it, _Kurogane_ wasn’t okay with it, but the idiot mage would probably smile that too-wide smile and start cracking jokes about Kuro-tan starting a family and it would open up a whole new minefield between them –

No, they were over that already. If not anything else then there was trust in their relationship, strong and unshakable, plunged through trials and fire and smelted by innumerable life-or-death situations survived by depending on each other. They would be okay.

He took a breath.

“If you find him, kid,” Kurogane said, “If you find him, and give me the OK _before_ the wedding, I’ll do it. If not…”

“I’ll go myself,” Youou finished.

He shot a look at the minister. She seemed to realize this was the best concession she’d get from them, and nodded grimly. “It’s a deal, then.”

* * *

 

Turned out, Kurogane found a drinking partner after all. He needed to get plastered for whatever he might be doing tomorrow, and Youou ostensibly shared his intentions. Mokona perched on the table between them with a glass of wine of her own.

“Kurogane has a _brother?”_ she gasped, tiny arms waving as though she would have liked to clap them over her mouth in shock, only that they were too short.

“I don’t,” Kurogane grunted.

“Half-brother,” Youou clarified. “We’re not actually related. He was the son of a minister elevated to royalty when my mother remarried.”

Remarried. His mother. Kurogane took another much-needed injection of alcohol to his system. Replete with scandals, divorces and affairs, it had been obvious since the beginning that Youou’s family tree differed vastly from his own, but hearing those words come out of his own mouth was…weird.

“He’s next in line to clan head, even though he’s older. Wasn’t quite happy about that.”

Syaoran glanced up from a book he’d cajoled from one of the servants. “Um. Longish hair, spiked to one side? Walks with a sort of swagger?”

“That’s him. Takao.”

“I saw him when I was looking around earlier, before dinner. He was kind of…just glaring out of the window. At the Wellspring of Fortune, I think.”

“He got any big plans tomorrow?” Kurogane asked casually.

“Some ministers have their suspicions.” Youou dropped his voice. “We have no evidence. Our relationship has never been good, but I’m not sure he’s the kind to resort to such drastic measures. Still, keep an eye out.”

“Got it.” Kurogane had dealt with assassins before. Hell, it had been his livelihood.

“Ne, Youou, where does that fountain come from? Mokona feels a great power from it.”

Youou quirked an eyebrow. “You’re talking magic again. That’s just a fairytale here.”

“Mokona feels it! It’s a strange kind of magic, not like Fai’s, but more like…a person.”

“Um, Mokona,” Syaoran said. “Fai-san _is_ a person?”

“What Mokona means is that it’s not magic like Fai’s spells, more like a life force. Everyone has those! And it feels like there’s a person there, only very, very, very big.”

“Maybe it’s because of this.” Syaoran laid the book on the tabletop, open to an illustration depicting a long, curling…worm? Snake. “They call it the water serpent. Is that right, Youou-san?”

Receiving an affirmative nod, Syaoran continued, “All water in this world seems to be sourced from one of these serpents. You don’t have rain, do you?”

“What’s rain?”

“Right. So water comes from underground, from these creatures. From what I’ve read, they’re some sort of prehistoric animal in perpetual hibernation, old enough that they’re now buried far beneath the earth. They’re more like mineral deposits at this point, but alive. Maybe that’s why Mokona can sense their magic…life force…thing.”

“If there are so many, what’s the significance of this fountain?” Kurogane frowned.

“According to _legend,”_ Youou stressed that word, “It comes from one of the youngest serpents in the land, young enough to make a pact with the first human dwellers in the region. Became some sort of protector and symbol of fortune before it went to sleep.” He waved a hand. “If the fountain runs dry, it means we’ve fallen out of the serpent’s favour or something.”

“So that’s why drinking from the fountain is one of the wedding rites,” Syaoran enthused. “To signify care of the lands and to honour the serpent! What a strange ecosystem, though, that a world can function this way…”

“Could anything be stranger than a world that somehow birthed talking bunnies convinced that a tornado asked them for human sacrifices?” Kurogane raised an eyebrow.

“Good point.”

“How do the serpents make the water?” Mokona piped up, something Kurogane had been trying very hard not to think about.

Youou shrugged.

“Well…” Syaoran stammered a little. “Judging by the characteristics of a normal living animal, which it _may not exhibit_ , it would probably have to be, um, sweat…or urine, or…”

“Right, you can stop there, kid.”

* * *

 

“You look divine,” Fai said. “Irresistible. Delicious.”

“That’s narcissistic, coming from you,” Yuui riposted. He stood before a full-body mirror, angling himself this way and that to peer at the robes cascading from his lithe form. He was wrapped in layers of gauzy fabric clinched at the waist with a silver belt. The curling blue design Fai understood to be his clan’s trademark rippled when he turned in a circle – a serpent motif, Fai had discovered, one which danced and writhed with every movement.

“Does it sag too much at my back?” Yuui frowned, twisting to peer in the mirror. “I couldn’t decide between this belt and the golden one, but since silver is a clan colour of my betrothed…”

 _Betrothed._ Fai resolutely pushed away the disappointment that had clung to him since last night. He hadn’t managed to glimpse Yuui’s intended after all, and since Yuui didn’t know the Kurogane of this world, it was pointless, cruel even, to tell him what he was missing. “You know, I could wear that and you’d get a perfect three-sixty view of what you look like.”

They stared at each other for a moment.

“…You just want to try putting this on, don’t you.”

Fai pouted. “It’s pretty. I’ve never seen clothing like that.”

“Okay, sure.”

They swapped clothes with the eagerness of children, and Yuui helped him position the belt and straighten the folds of the robe, adjust the veil on his head. He stood back as Fai executed an elaborate bow.

“You were right. I do look amazing.”

“What did I tell you? Now –”

Footsteps sounded from outside the room. They froze. Fai moved to leap back into his habitual hiding spot in the pile of clothes, but Yuui caught his arm. “Hold on – the wedding robes –”

The door flap lifted. Yuui squeaked and doze behind his sizable wardrobe.

“Lord Yuui!” it was the servant from yesterday. She frowned and cast a sharp eye about the room. “Were you talking to someone?”

“Oh, not at all!” Fai chuckled nervously, straightening. Made a point of not looking at Yuui’s pale countenance near his left.

“It’s time, Lord Yuui. Are you ready? Please follow me.” She stepped forward to take his arm, and Fai’s reflex was to step back, but then she would see his doppelganger and freak and they didn’t need this right before the wedding –

“Could I – just have a minute? Nerves, you see, uh –”

“Oh, we all get like this on our big day,” she said sympathetically. “You look stunning, my lord. But we have to hurry; everyone has gathered.”

And she caught his wrist and led him out into the festivities to be married.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUNNNN!!!
> 
> So Youou has a brother while Yuui doesn’t. Sorry for screwing with them that way.
> 
> By the way, “Taka” from “Takao” is a homonym for “hawk” in Japanese, which I chose because, obviously, Youou.
> 
> And yeah, I know the water serpents thing is really weird. I got the idea from Silver Diamond (a manga with EPIC world building like wow) and put an original spin on it.
> 
> Is Fai going to end up marrying the wrong Kurogane? Maybe. Stay tuned!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has way too many breaks.

Syaoran had set out in the morning with a _mission._

Do not get sidetracked by the novelty of unfamiliar customs. Do not get sidetracked by the architecture. Do not get sidetracked by the wedding preparations or the symbolism of the serpent designs arching above the dais or the sheer richness of culture in everyone’s clothing and mannerisms or –

Focus, Syaoran, focus.

Find Fai.

It was more difficult than he'd expected, due to the abundance of fairer colouring in the other clan. Blondes with blue eyes were not as uncommon as in Youou’s jurisdiction. By the time the sun started inching towards the horizon, Syaoran was beginning to panic. Fai was nowhere to be seen among the revellers, unless…

He slipped respectfully to one side as the procession from the main tent passed by. A veritable river of guards and servants bore a palanquin past him, lifted high like some sort of heavily bedizened boat bobbing above the heads of the adoring crowd.

The main tent had to be vacated, then. It was the perfect opportunity to sneak in. Fai could have been captured or something, which was quite unlikely, but Syaoran didn’t see anywhere else he could be.

He skirted the tent to reach a back entrance, glancing over his shoulder for onlookers before pushing the flap aside – it carried a swirling, looping design, unlike the geometric patterns of Youou’s clan – and walked right into someone.

Syaoran stumbled back – _distracted by pretty emblems, Kurogane was going to scold him for this_ _!_  – about to let fly with some dubious excuse of being a new servant when his jaw dropped.

“Fai-san!”

Fai’s eyes widened, but there was no recognition in them, and wait a minute this wasn’t…

“You know Fai?” the man asked.

“Um, yeah, I’m his friend. You’re – you’re the him of this world.”

“Yuui,” the man confirmed. He clutched his robes around himself, haphazard as though he’d thrown on his fanciest outfit last minute for a party he hadn’t prepared for. “I’m afraid you’ll have to hurry.”

Alarm bells rang in Syaoran’s head. “What? Why?”

“Because he’s in my palanquin, totted off to be married.”

* * *

 

“You see the kid?” Kurogane murmured.

Youou parted the curtains a crack to peer outside. Nearby, one of the palanquin bearers was rubbing his shoulder and speculating on the recent food intake of their lord because _damn_ that had been heavy. No shit, there were two of them in here. Only one would emerge for the ceremony, and as to who it was had yet to be determined, because the Syaoran kid was _late._

“My lord?” came a whisper from the side. It was one of his ministers. “There's an issue at the southern district. They found…well. You might want to see this.”

Great. Just great.

“Hold on,” he murmured, dragging a tired hand over his face, and ducked back in to grab an austere cloak.

Kurogane raised an eyebrow. “Something up?”

“Trouble. I’ll just be outside to talk.”

He pulled up his hood and slipped out of the back of the palanquin. The very same moment, cheers from the crowd rose to a crescendo: the other palanquin had arrived. This had better be quick.

“What is it?” he muttered.

The minister cast a furtive eye about – behind the palanquin and the props, they were pretty well hidden – then leaned in.

“We have a dozen arrows pointed at your back and a dozen more at your lovely fiancé, _my lord._ If you don’t want anyone to get hurt, be quiet and come along.”

* * *

 

The elders of both clans had exchanged greetings. They were announcing the couple now; Kurogane – or Youou – was due to step out at any moment, so where the hell was Youou?

“May the exultant leaders of both clans rise to the dais, please,” an elder droned. The crowd fell into an expectant hush.

Damn. He’d been briefed about this: lift the veil. Accept the chalice. Pretend to drink. The veil was important, he knew – important enough that the simple motion of lifting it required hours of practice back at the tent. Syaoran had been firing off so many questions about the ritual that the instructor shut him out of the room, but Kurogane got the gist of it: Youou’s clan had been granted the honour of lifting the veil, a gesture of welcome, while taking the first sip from a cup not of his choosing portrayed trust.

Where was the kid? Where was _Fai?_

Youou was not coming. Well, he could deal with himself later. Taking a fortifying breath, Kurogane stepped out into the glow of the sunset. On the other end of the dais, a figure in blue and white did the same, a veil obscuring the better part of his head and upper body.

A movement in the crowd caught his eye. _Syaoran._ The kid was squeezing through a wall of spectators, flushed with exertion, eyes gleaming with an unholy light that might have been panic or glee – and was he giving Kurogane a _thumbs up?_

“Kurogane-san!” he whisper-shouted. “Go! Get married!”

The hell?

The elder was saying something again, his cue to get up there now. Kurogane ascended the dais. Opposite, Youou’s fiancé walked in small, measured steps, head bowed. Looking at his feet, probably, because that veil was a stupid inconvenience and how could he see anything that way?

On his right, the crowd watched with baited breath. On his left, the fountain gushed into a red and orange sky, drizzling them with droplets of serpent- _something_ painted gold by the dusk. This close, he understood what Mokona meant by a massive life force – he could feel the buzz of it, an annoying presence that threw his senses off balance.

“The Unveiling,” declared the elder.

Kurogane reached forward to curl his fingers in soft fabric, hearing a muted intake of breath from beneath it. This wasn’t his moment, dammit, he shouldn’t be doing this, _Fai_ –

Past the interference from that water serpent’s pulsing energy, past the huddled mass of _presence_ that was the crowd, Fai’s distinct magic-twined life force struck him like an unexpected breath of fresh air. So near he should have noticed sooner, so near he could be right at his finger…tips…

And then there was blond hair, slightly tousled from the veil, floating in wisps around a treasured face that tilted up to take him in. Eyes impossibly blue, suddenly wider than dinner plates.

“ _Fai_?”

Let it be known that Lord Youou misnamed his fiancé on their wedding.

Fai’s lips moved soundlessly, but Kurogane caught the shape of his words – _Kuro-sama_. And then he couldn’t really look away. Bathed in the setting sun, Fai looked…divine. Irresistible. Delicious.

A small smile tugged at those lips, blossoming until it spread across Fai’s whole face, eyes crinkling in a way that made Kurogane’s heart feel too big for his chest. Damn, all those hours of practice lifting the veil had been _worth_ it.

* * *

 

When the Syaoran kid sped off rambling something about “hitsuzen”, Yuui thought his life couldn’t get any weirder. There was no time to dwell on it, though – he had to intercept the procession somehow, switch places with Fai. How to do it in plain view of two clans febrile with excitement, he had yet to figure out.

He threw on a cloak to camouflage his finery – second-best cobbled-together finery, because Fai – and hurried to the spring. The streets were empty now, with everyone congregating before the dais, and his footsteps were oddly loud as they pounded against the ground.

Hold on. Those weren’t just his footsteps. Yuui darted behind a tent just as a group of people rounded the corner.

“And? Why don’t you kill me already?”

“Silence, I said.”

Yuui’s heart kicked. He peeked around the tent. Paces away, a hooded man stood surrounded by a group of five. Their style of dress ran the gamut from civilian to minister, but those men carried the demeanour of hoodlums with how they sneered and postured. What was this? It didn’t look very much like a normal mugging.

“We’ll talk now,” the man in the circle rumbled, apparently unconcerned.

The short one in black and silver ministers’ garb spoke. “Now, you know how much we’d love to kill you. Answer our questions and I’ll be nice enough to make it quick, got it?”

The man said nothing. Red eyes flashed from beneath the shadow of his hood.

“The one who looks like you. Who is he? Where did he come from, and where is he now?”

“What makes you think I’m not him?” the man drawled. “Traitor.” The group bristled.

This wasn’t good. Yuui should alert the guards or something, but some of these people _were_ guards, or at least pretending to be, and he’d already had one too many attempts on his own life. Plus, by the time he made it back, it might be to a dead body on the ground. He needed something, a diversion – there.

Yuui snatched a stone off the ground, took aim. Lobbed it towards a firepot sitting outside someone’s tent.

The _crash_ reverberated through the air.

The group started, heads swivelling – and the hooded man pounced. He caught one man with a hook straight to the jaw, ducked a swipe from behind, and rolled. Blades flashed into view. Two of them were down now, but it was still three against one.

Yuui sent a second stone into the back of the minister’s head. He crumpled. One of the men spotted him, shouted, and received a knee in the gut for his distraction. Yuui’s own knife slid into his palm and he flung it into the shin of another assailant right as the hooded man brought down the last one.

That was quicker than he expected.

The man straightened and turned towards him, his hood long since fallen away to reveal chiselled features and cutting red eyes. Yuui’s fingers curled around the hilt of his last dagger.

A whimper broke the silence. They both glanced down at the only conscious man of the bunch, the one with Yuui’s knife buried in his leg – sensing the attention, he squeaked and scuttled backwards in the dirt.

“Who sent you?” The red-eyed man crouched down beside him.

He whimpered again, eyes darting all over the place.

Tall Guy in Hood reached for Yuui’s knife and wrenched it from the meat of his shin. The man howled. “Who sent you? Takao?”

“He promised –” the man gasped, “He promised I’d be made a minister! I didn’t want to hurt anyone, really! I just –”

“What does he want with the wedding?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Tall Guy in Hood with Great Biceps twirled the dagger around his fingers. The other man swallowed audibly. “I really don’t! Just – he – he was excavating something. You know, the camp over the hill which everyone thinks are just nomadic traders? He’s digging something there.”

“Is he planning to drain the fountain? Create a bad omen?”

“I don’t know!”

Tall Guy with Gorgeous Jawline snorted in disgust and stood. Leaving the wounded man to scramble away, he strode over to Yuui, wiping the blade off on his cloak.

“Here.” He held the knife out, hilt-first. There was something like grudging admiration in his eyes. “You’re good.”

“You’re…hot,” Yuui blurted.

 _Stupid_! What was he doing, flirting with a stranger on his wedding day? A stranger who was probably some watchman he’d never get to see again, combing for threats during the ceremony. Tall Guy Who is Hot and Also Cutely Surprised flushed crimson.

“We should go,” The man said curtly, grimacing as though he was trying to force his blush down through sheer willpower. “To the wedding. I mean. To warn them.”

“Oh! Yes.” The sky was in that numinous shade of half-light now – oh, gods, Yuui was late for his own _wedding._

They took off running.

* * *

Winding through the forest of tents, Youou glanced over at his serendipitous ally. _Blond, tall, scrawny, a bit pretty and a lot idiot…_

“Fai?” he asked.

The blonde faltered. “No, but I know him. Are you his other companion?”

“No, but I know his other companion. Companions.”

“Oh. Then I guess I should tell you this so you can tell them: Fai’s currently, well –”

“The First Sip!” interrupted the thunderous announcement from an elder. They’d reached the plaza, but the throng of clansmen filling it could have been a brick-built rampart for how penetrable it was.

Shit. The ceremony was about halfway through. Kurogane could fake it, of course, but he’d be _pissed._

“No no no no no,” the blonde muttered. He seized Youou’s arm, and the jolt of electricity that fizzled through him from that point of contact was just static, yes, that was it. “Please. You have to help me get to the dais. Or create a diversion so I can get to the dais. I’ll – I’ll explain later, so just –”

A lady in front of them turned around and shushed him viciously, then immediately swung her head back in rapt attention to the ceremony.

As if drawn by a magnetic pull, they both craned their necks to follow her gaze. Up on the dais, unreachably far, two figures stood silhouetted against the fountain spray. Kurogane, tall and unmistakable in black and silver clan colours, reaching to take a gleaming chalice filled with spring water. Youou’s eyes tracked the hands wrapped around the chalice up a flowing sleeve to a head of blond hair, and _what the hell was going on_ –

He tore his gaze away to stare at the lanky blonde by his side. His hood shadowed most of his features, but there was no denying it – they could have been twins.

Blue eyes met his own, shock and confusion warring in them.

“You’re –” Before Youou could fully re-master articulation, a low rumble resounded through the plaza, and the ground beneath their feet _shuddered._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one more chapter left, plus a mini epilogue of sorts!
> 
> This is definitely the most cliché arranged-marriage, fateful-run-in story ever. I’m not sorry ;)
> 
> And if you were wondering, why is Yuui/Fai the one wearing the veil and not Youou/Kurogane? Because the image of Fai with super long hair wouldn’t get out of my head, but I don’t believe he’ll actually grow it out because of the bad memories associated with it, so I gave the hair to Yuui instead. But I figured his clansmen would question the difference in hair length if Fai went up the dais, hence the veil. Yep, the veil is more important than you thought!
> 
> Also, Fai in a veil. *melts*
> 
> And Syaoran. I love that kid. All the pussyfooting his surrogate parents do around each other makes him want to scream, but we know he’ll always be rooting for them ;)
> 
> So how was this chapter? Were the line breaks and the constant POV switching too jarring? Would love to hear your feedback!


	4. Chapter 4

Fai could hardly believe this was happening. Sure, plenty of people likely felt the same way on their wedding day, but probably for vastly different reasons. In all his wildest dreams, he’d never envisioned getting married like this – not without a proposal, and certainly not by _accident._

Their fingers brushed as Kurogane took the cup, eyes never leaving his. His throat bobbed as he swallowed. He passed the cup back and Fai barely registered the burst of cool sweetness on his own tongue, too dizzied by relief and elation. Somehow, Kurogane was here, and Yuui was not in fact engaged to some unknown lord, and it had to be kind of disconcerting for for someone else be married in your place but Fai would just apologise later because honestly there was nowhere else he’d rather be right now.

A sudden flare of magic raised the hair on the back of his neck. Judging by the way Kurogane stiffened, he’d felt it too – a sort of _shift,_ a spike, eerily close. And then the ground shook.

The beginnings of a crowd cheer petered out into confused murmurs.

Something under their feet groaned. Then bone-juddering, grating _CRACK._

“Get back!” Kurogane shouted, and they leapt into action: Fai seized two elders by the robes as Kurogane unceremoniously dragged the remaining two from the dais. Not a moment too soon – the fountain exploded into a geyser-like column of water, the earth around it splintering to form an undulating patchwork of stone, soil and spurting mud.

People were screaming now, trampling each other in their haste to evacuate. If the fountain drying out was a portent of calamity, Fai thought, what did it mean when it erupted?

Chunks of earth rained down on them. The ground bulged up from where the fountain had sprung, like something was rising from under it, and surely it couldn’t be…?

“Oh, shit,” Kurogane said from behind him. But that wasn’t possible, because Kurogane was a ways off to his left, so who was…Fai did a double take. It was Kurogane. _A_ Kurogane, not _his_ Kurogane, and Yuui was standing beside him mirroring their collective looks of stupefaction.

“Takao wasn’t planning to drain the fountain,” the Kurogane was saying. “Fool went to _wake the goddamn serpent_.”

Fai swung his gaze back the straining earth. Something broke its surface: a plane of leathery skin, so rough it almost looked like a part of the ground. Debris sluiced off it. Then it forced its way up higher, unearthing a massive reptilian eye so vividly yellow it seemed to glow.

“It…could be a herbivore?” Yuui suggested hopefully.

The serpent pried its head free of the ground. The head itself was the size of one of those tanks they’d seen in a warring country.

Then it opened its mouth and lunged.

They scattered, leaving the serpent to smash its fangs into the ground. It reared up, looking more angry than injured.

“How cranky,” Fai couldn’t help noting. “ _Someone’s_ not a morning person.”

“Kurogane-san! Fai-san!” Syaoran skidded to a stop at the periphery of the cracked earth. He goggled at the four of them. “Um, should I be using plural proper nouns?”

“Not the time, kid!” Kurogane shouted, ducking beneath the writhing head to join the group.

“I cleared the area,” Syaoran continued. “Everyone’s escaped to the eastern side of the camp. How did the serpent…?”

“Takao,” the other Kurogane said darkly. “Kid, if you go round the hill over there, you should find another smaller camp. He’ll be there. Can you make sure he doesn’t get away?”

Syaoran nodded, already spinning on his heel. “Be careful, please!”

“That’s kind of easier said than done.” Fai eyed the struggling serpent. The only reason they hadn’t yet been introduced to its digestive system was probably because most of the snake was still trapped underground.

“Do we kill it?” Kurogane asked. Fai slapped a hand over Kurogane’s wrist before he could summon Ginryuu.

“Hold on. The serpent is messing with my magic; it could go awry.” He bit his lip. Kurogane didn’t have more arms left to loose.

“This spring irrigates many of the fields in the area,” Yuui said. “If the serpent dies…”

“Draught,” the other Kurogane agreed grimly.

“I…I could try to hit it with a sleep spell,” Fai suggested haltingly. Like he’d done on Ashura-ou. But his magic…

The hand under his wrist twisted to return his grasp. Kurogane’s eyes bored into his. “No. Too risky.”

And really, this wasn’t the time for flutters in his chest, but oh did it feel good.

Screeching, the serpent attempted another strike, slamming its head down like a club. They skittered back beyond its reach. More of its thrashing body was visible now.

“Wait,” Yuui said. “The serpent is a protector. It made a pact with our ancestors, didn’t it?”

The other Kurogane looked incredulous. “That’s just a myth. Even if it’s true, how do you propose communicating with it?”

“ _Humanssssss_ ,” said a whispering, echoing voice. “ _Puny annoying humansssss_.”

They all stared at the serpent. A dumbfounded kind of silence fell over them, because deus ex machinas like this could not be real. Kurogane cast a suspicious look at Fai, but he could only return one of utter bewilderment.

“That was…surprisingly convenient,” Yuui pointed out.

“Guys!” cried another voice from behind them, much higher in pitch this time. “Are you all right?”

Fai turned, gasped, “Mokona-chan!” and extended an eager hand for the little dear to leap into. "I missed you so much!" Beside him, Yuui goggled at the little creature as though she was a greater aberration than a talking, raging serpent.

"What is...?" Yuui said faintly.

"Oh, right! Yuui, meet Mokona. She’s a lovely little ball of sunshine in addition to being our transportation and translator…” Fai trailed away. “Mokona-chan, are you by any chance doing something to allow us to understand serpent-speak…?”

“Yep! It’s one of Mokona’s 108 secret techniques: enhanced translation! It only works within a very short range though.”

“Good enough,” Kurogane grunted. He jerked his head at his double. “We’ll leave it to you guys. You’re the clan heads.”

Yuui and the other Kurogane exchanged looks, as if that realisation hadn’t quite sunk in yet. They must have met, what, half an hour ago?

Yuui took a step forward. The serpent trained its gaze on him, but seemed considerably more reasonable than it had been minutes ago. Probably because it could understand them now, too.

“ _Humansssssss. Drilling, destroying, disturbing my sssssleep_.”

“Deepest regrets, Great One.” Yuui did a sweeping bow and _did he steal that from Fai’s magician act_? “Please, don’t hurt the clansmen for this. It is the fault of one person.”

“My brother,” the other Kurogane grudgingly admitted. He had a _brother_? “I…we…apologise for letting it get out of hand. We’ll see to it that it won’t happen again.”

“ _No more digging. Sssssleep in peaceeeeee. Or you pay_.”

“We understand,” Yuui murmured. “If there is anything we can provide as compensation, we’ll do all in our power –”

“ _Sssssilenceeeee. Leave. Sssssleeep_.”

With a final barring of fangs in warning, the giant slithered back down into its abyss. There was a muted rumble, the ground shivering slightly as it resettled, then stillness. The sudden absence of it, of a creature that had been so _huge_ before, was almost as jarring as its hugeness.

Not that anyone was complaining.

“Ah…Well!” Fai clapped his hands together to break the flabbergasted silence that had enveloped them. “First successful diplomatic experience! Congratulations!”

Both Kuroganes rolled their eyes. Then Yuui and the other Kurogane kind of caught each other’s gaze and seemed to abruptly struggle for eloquence. Negotiating with a belligerent serpent _could_ sometimes be less challenging than finding the right words to say to a fiancé you’ve never known, Fai supposed.

“You’re good,” the other Kurogane said finally, eyes sliding to one side in an almost bashful manner.

“…You’re still hot,” Yuui responded.

“Oh my god, _we_ didn’t flirt this badly when we first met.” Fai snickered, nudging his Kurogane in the side. The man scoffed but didn’t push him away, ears flaring red.

Voices rose in the distance, accompanied by the drum of rapid, coordinated footsteps. Reinforcements, most likely.

“Fai!” Yuui grabbed his arm – more specifically, the sleeve of his robe. “We have to change.”

Right. He was still in Yuui’s wedding attire. As he ducked into one of the few intact tents to switch clothes with himself, he thought he’d kind of miss the robe. He’d been married in it.

“Hey.” Yuui touched his arm, a knowing smile on his face. “After – after we settle things, you can keep it if you want. The robe, I mean.”

It was at this moment – faced with the small kindness of a man who shared his soul – that Fai grasped in perfect clarity what Kurogane had been trying to show him since Tokyo, since Celes: he _could_ love himself, and right now he really, really did.

“You’re the _best_.”

* * *

 

In the end, they had to move the encampment elsewhere to resume wedding festivities. The Wellspring of Fortune was now a sizable lake, water having seeped up through fissures in the ground to inundate about five acres of land. The people were however a resilient race – wildly embellished stories of the ruling newlyweds calming an age-old serpent were already circulating through households like wildfire, soon to be cemented in legend.

“We can’t thank you enough,” Yuui said, handing a wrapped bundle to Fai. The mage refused to tell him what it was, but Kurogane had his suspicions – Fai could keep his secrets so long as they culminated in Kurogane getting to see him in that robe again, because he’d never be able to get that image out of his head.

Youou nodded at him. Earlier, he and Yuui had put on a good show of married-couple cohesiveness for the public, but it would probably take them a while to actually start easing into the spaces around each other. They’d be all right. Kurogane wasn’t worried.

“And Takao?” he asked.

“The kid caught up to him,” Youou said. Syaoran beamed at that. “He’ll be trialled soon. Won’t be a problem again.”

“Guess _he_ was that dreadful lord I thought I’d be marrying before.” Yuui laughed sheepishly.

“Dreadful, huh?” A wicked gleam entered Fai’s eye. “I can’t speak for yours, but my Kuro-tan can be brutish and grumpy and he drinks way too much –”

“Oi –”

“– But he’s still a pretty good catch, if I may say so myself.” Fai winked. Yuui snorted with laughter.

“You know, I think missing my own wedding was a blessing in disguise.” Yuui’s eyes flitted to Youou. “We talked it over and, well, since we’re technically not wedded despite what everyone thinks, we decided to do things the conventional way. You know, start with dating and…stuff.”

Youou had turned a violent shade of crimson, but he wasn’t protesting. Fai grinned even wider. “That’s great. Now when I think about it, Kuro-sama and I kind of did everything backwards, didn’t we? Usually people date, then get married, _then_ have children. Not the other way round. When are you going to take me on a proper date, Kuro-pon?”

Kurogane felt his face flame to match his double’s. Gods, two of Fai in the same room did not bode well for his sanity.

“Come to think of it, you didn’t even _ask_ for my hand in marriage,” Fai continued, adopting a dramatically anguished look. “It might be a little overdue now, but since we’re doing things in reverse, someone has to do the proposing around here, right? So, Kuro-rin, will you marry me?”

And right there, tainting the lightness of his tone, an almost imperceptible tension – was it insecurity? That _idiot,_ Kurogane thought. Still doubting at this stage whether Kurogane really would have married him if they hadn’t blundered headlong into it.

He cuffed Fai on the chin, albeit gently. “We already are, moron. If you ask the kid, he’ll probably tell you we’ve been married since well before this world.”

Syaoran nodded vigorously, looking at once charmed and repulsed by the pure sappiness in the atmosphere. Mokona’s earring lit up.

“Okay!” Fai crowed. “Let’s go on a date in our next world!”

“It's called a honeymoon, idiot.”

The smile that lit his husband’s face was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

* * *

 

Epilogue

* * *

 

Fresh from the shower, Fai sprawled atop the plush loveseat of their hotel room with a contented sigh, putting his feet into Kurogane’s lap. Luxurious baths, a cosy fireplace, cushions that moulded to his back… “I can’t believe we got to land in a world like this. Best. Honeymoon. Ever.”

“Dry your hair properly, idiot.”

“Mmmm.” Fai pawed for his towel. It was patterned with a swirl reminiscent of Yuui’s clan insignia. “What do you suppose the other me and the other you are doing right now? Say, are honeymoons part of their tradition? We did complete every one of their rituals after all, Kuro-sama –” here he started counting on his fingers “– I didn’t get to see you at all during wedding preparations, then there was the veil thing, then drinking the water…”

“About that.” Syaoran looked up from his armchair, a morbid sort of curiosity sparking in his eyes. “A question of academic interest: when the serpent came out of the ground, did you by any chance get to see how it, um, produces the water –”

_“No.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> …And they all lived happily ever after. (Though sometimes Kurogane and Fai have to try really hard not to think of what sort of serpent fluids they downed in the heat of the moment, ahem.) And yeah, most anticlimactic final battle ever, right?
> 
> Thanks for sticking around, lovelies! I really enjoyed reading your comments and any feedback and criticism will always be greatly appreciated <3 Until next time!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse of Youou and Yuui's (not)married life.

If someone were to ask Youou what married life was like, he would tell them that spending his days vacillating between the urge to either punch his spouse or kiss him senseless probably did not constitute a normal matrimonial relationship, and he was thus unqualified to reply. How could anyone be so _aggravating_ , yet at the same time so…inexplicably attractive?

Leave it to Yuui to turn logic upside down.  He might even be doing it just to screw with Youou’s head like he always did, because gods knew the man was annoying. He teased and joked and prodded and chirped, and had taken to calling Youou “Yo-chan” for some goddamn reason, completely unintimidated by threats and growls to just _act your age already_.

But. If someone were to ask Youou if there was anyone else he’d rather rule beside, he’d be hard-pressed to name another candidate. For all of Yuui’s blithe smiles and inane chatter, he was _good._ Good at diplomacy, good at battle, good at calculating and predicting and most of all, _caring_. People loved him because he loved them so, and he connected with them the way Youou, with all his taciturn surliness, could never hope to. To be honest, he sometimes wondered what he’d do without Yuui.

And sometimes, when they were alone and together and his thoughts strayed from business, he wondered what he’d do _with_ Yuui. What Yuui might like to do with him.

This, now, was one such moment: one of those moments where the “kiss him” urge momentarily and completely overpowered the “punch him” urge.

It was late evening. He’d entered their bedroom, paperwork in hand, intending on a quick shut-eye before meeting their advisors. Then he looked up, and all thoughts of sleep fled his mind.

The shared bedroom was part of an unspoken agreement to uphold their pretence of being a couple, even if they had yet to officiate it. In private, they’d kissed maybe a couple of times – their relationship was inching forward, but only inching, because how exactly do you proceed when you were married for all intents and purposes in the public eye, only to backtrack to “kind of just dating” when left alone?

Like now. And Youou didn’t know what to do.

(Well, he knew what he _wanted_ to do, but.)

Yuui was sitting out on the veranda, his back to the room. The evening sun set his skin aglow, his too-pale complexion now a dusky, radiant pink. Light danced along the length of his hair: a rippling, shining waterfall that spilled from its clasp behind his neck. He was carding absent fingers through a few stray locks – he refused to cut it, no matter how bad the tangles got – and at the sight, Youou’s fingers suddenly itched to do the same. Golden head tilted to catch the breeze, sunlight outlining the gentle curve of his lips, Yuui looked peaceful. Relaxed.

Happy.

Youou must have made some sort of noise, because Yuui straightened and turned, and.

Wow.

Yuui blinked at him for a moment. It occurred to Youou, somewhere in the distant depths of his mind, that he should probably unfreeze himself from his spot just inside the door and maybe, say, stop _staring_ , but. Holy shit his eyes were so _blue_.

Then Yuui’s lips quirked, and it was unbelievable how many expressions that tiny smile could contain – it went from knowing, to mischievous, then acquired a slow, lazy curl that sent a jolt of electricity down Youou’s spine.

“Why don’t you shut the door, husband _dear_?”

Youou did. Then he locked it, for good measure, and the paperwork probably had to be put away somewhere but Yuui was gliding to his feet and watching him through half-lidded eyes and Youou wasn’t in full possession of his cognitive faculties at the moment.

Because no matter if Yuui was all blithe smiles and inane chatter, or dragging a sultry gaze up Youou’s physique, he was _always_ screwing with Youou’s head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I drew a [pic](https://asanyue.tumblr.com/post/177098375384/yuui-from-my-kurofai-canon-au-wedding-fic-now-and) for this on my tumblr, because Yuui's really long hair is an image i can't get out of my head.


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